MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. – The United States Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment announced today the final roster of 50 Marines and Marine veterans who will serve on the 2012 All-Marine Warrior Games team.
Thirty four Marines on active duty and 16 veteran Marines comprise the team that will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. to compete against the Army, Navy and Coast Guard, Air Force, and Special Operations Command for the Warrior Games Chairman’s Cup, April 30–May 6.
For 17 of the athletes, it is their second or third trip to the games, providing seasoned athletes to mentor those who are new to the competition. These wounded, ill and injured athletes from the WWR, other Marine Corps units and communities across the nation will come together and work to defend their first-place title.
Here is your 2012 All-Marine Warrior Games team:
Gunnery Sgt. Nicole Adams
Lance Cpl. Jeremiah Arbogast (Vet)
Cpl. Josue Barron
Staff Sgt. Matthew Benack (Three-time team member)
Lance Cpl. Zach Blair
Sgt. Ashley Chavez (Vet) (Two-time team member)
Sgt. Evan Davis
Capt. Jonathan Disbro (Three-time team member)
CWO3 Shawn Dunn (Two-time team member)
Lance Cpl. Nathan Edwards
Lance Cpl. Joseph Ellis
Staff Sgt. Roberto Espinal
Cpl. Justin Gaertner
Lance Cpl. Carlos Garcia
Cpl. Angel Gomez (Vet) (Three-time team member)
Sgt. Daniel Govier (Vet) (Three-time team member)
Cpl. Travis Greene (Vet) (Three-time team member)
Cpl. Manuel Jimenez (Two-time team member)
Cpl. Justin Jones
Gunnery Sgt. Bryce Keene
Cpl. Dylan Kelly
Lance Cpl. Artem Lazukin
Sgt. Stephen Lunt (Two-time team member)
Staff Sgt. Nathan Lynch (Two-time team member)
Cpl. Lindsay Mahnke
Lance Cpl. Levi Marshall (Two-time team member)
Cpl. Anthony McDaniel
Sgt. Malcolm McKay
Sgt. Brian McPherson (Vet)
Cpl. Chris Montgomery
Sgt. Cogen Nelson (Two-time team member)
Master Sgt. Dionisios Nicholas (Vet) (Two-time team member)
Sgt. Robert Norman (Vet)
Cpl. Mark O'Brien (Vet)
Cpl. Kyle Perez (Vet)
Cpl. Alec Pienaar
Cpl. Luke Prentice (Vet)
Lance Cpl. Matthew Roach
Lance Cpl. Casey Robinson (Vet)
Sgt. Eric Rodriguez
Capt. Richard Rush (Two-time team member)
PFC Kirk Salmon
Lance Cpl. Chuck Sketch (Vet) (Three-time team member)
Sgt. Joey Smith (Vet) (Two-time team member)
Lance Cpl. Jacob Stearns (Vet)
Cpl. Kionte Storey
Lance Cpl. Ronald Sullivan
Staff Sgt. Guillermo Tejada
Cpl. Sean Venezia
Lance Cpl. Lance Weir (Vet) (Two-time team member)
The following Marines and veterans were named to the team but are not able to compete at the Games: Cpl. Harvey Calderon; Lance Cpl. Richie Chavis; Cpl. Marcus Chischilly, Cpl. David Chirinos; Staff Sgt. Russell Evans; Maj. Patrick Keplinger; Cpl. Savage Margraf (Vet), and Cpl. Skyler Wild.
The Warrior Games provide competition in archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field and wheelchair basketball. The athletes of the All-Marine team are no strangers to these sports, most having competed in the Wounded Warrior Regiment’s Marine Corps Trials in February aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The WWR used the Trials as a forum to select most of the athletes named to the team. The Trials provided a competitive opportunity for wounded, ill and injured Marines, Marine veterans and international service members with skills from novice to elite.
Approximately 300 athletes were divided into four teams, East, West, Veteran and International. The International team had service members from Australia, Canada, Columbia, France, Germany, Netherlands and United Kingdom. The four teams fiercely competed against each other in the same sports featured at the Warrior Games.
The Trials also included a Warrior Pentathlon competition, where Marines competed in 50-meter swim, 100-meter track, cycling, shot put and 10-meter air rifle prone events to be named all-around top athlete. The Warrior Pentathlete for the Marine Corps Trials, for the second year in a row, is Capt. Jonathan S. Disbro.
Disbro is also the reining Warrior Games Ultimate Champion, a competition similar to the Marine Corps’ Warrior Pentathlon. This will be his third trip to the Warrior Games, where he will compete to maintain his Ultimate Champion title.
Disbro, a Colorado Springs, Colo., native, is currently serving on active duty at Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity, a component of Marine Corps Systems Command, aboard MCB Camp Pendleton.
For more information on the USMC Wounded Warrior Regiment, download the app for the iPhone, Android and iPad, go to: www.woundedwarriorregiment.org, or call the Sgt. Merlin German Wounded Warrior Call Center 24/7 at 877-487-6299.
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http://wwrnews.org